The Kahlo/Rivera poems

„Never in life will I forget your presence. You found me torn apart and you took me back full and complete.“

Frida Kahlo

 

Touching, inspiring and lovable: The poems in the Blue House in Coyoacán.

All about Frida: The Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacán

Whenever you are in Mexico City it is a MUST:

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House (La Casa Azul) for the structure’s cobalt-blue walls, is a historic house museum and art museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. For me it is one of the best art places I have seen. It is located in the Colonia del Carmen neighborhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City. The building was the birthplace of Kahlo and is also the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for a number of years, and in one of the rooms on the upper floor she died in 1954. In 1958, Diego Rivera’s will donated the home and its contents in order to turn it into a museum in Frida’s honor.

The museum contains a collection of artwork by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and other artists along with the couple’s Mexican folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, personal items, and more. The collection is displayed in the rooms of the house which remains much as it was in the 1950s. Today, it is the most popular museum in Coyoacán and one of the most visited in Mexico City.

Originally the house was the family home of Frida Kahlo, but since 1958, it has served as museum dedicated to her life and work. With about 25.000 visitors monthly, it is one of Mexico City’s most-visited museums, and the most-visited site in Coyoacán. Be prepared for a long queue and a long waiting time. But it is all worth it!

The museum is supported solely by ticket sales and donations. The museum demonstrates the lifestyle of wealthy Mexican bohemian artists and intellectuals during the first half of the 20th century. According to records and testimony, the house today looks much as it did in 1951, decorated with Mexican folk art, Kahlo’s personal art collection, a large collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts, traditional Mexican cookware, linens, personal mementos such as photographs, postcards and letters, and works by José María Velasco, Paul Klee and Diego Rivera. Much of the collection is now in display cases designed for their preservation.

The museum consists of ten rooms. You also can visit the formal living room, where Frida and Diego entertained notable Mexican and international visitors and friends such as Sergei Eisenstein, Nelson Rockefeller, George Gershwin, caricaturist Miguel Covarrubias and actresses Dolores del Río and María Félix. And of course the Russian Leon Trotsky while he and his wife obtained asylum in Mexico.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Museo Frida Kahlo
Londres 247, Del Carmen
Coyoacán
04100 Ciudad de México, Mexico

 www.museofridakahlo.org.mx

 

Secretary of Education: Diego Rivera’s murals

In the movie „Frida“ the young art student Frida Kahlo learned that Diego Rivera, famous artist, was painting murals at the Secretary of Education in Mexico City. Herself very much interested in art, she brought some of her work to him at the Secretary of Education and asked for his opinion: „You’ve got talent“, was his reply.

Two marriages and a lifelong love affair later, the love and hate relationship of Kahlo and Rivera lives on, along with the beautiful inspired work they both created.

The Secretary of Education building is located in the oldest part of Mexico City, El Centro. Free to the public and open on weekdays until 6 PM, more than 100 murals are on display. These murals represent some of Rivera’s early work. Surprisingly, these murals are on outside of an open air courtyard.

Diego Rivera worked on the murals for six years. There are three floors of murals to view. The murals on the bottom are older than the ones on top. The murals tell stories about the labor movement, the arts and traditional life in Mexico.

A Must Be when you are in Mexico City. Free Entry.

Secretary of Education
Calle Republica de Argentina 28
Mexico City 06000, Mexico

Che Guevara in Africa

In Mexico City I discovered a small but fine exhibition about Che Guevara’s mission in Africa. It is a very detailed approach. Whenever you are in the Mexican capital (till January 21, 2018) have a look! The location is in a beautiful colonial setting.

Che Guevara’s work in Congo marked a decisive moment in Cuba’s great relationship with Africa. Although the Congo’s mission had been a failure, it marked the turning point for Cuban victories in Africa and provided support to the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and independence in Mozambique.

By November 1965 Guevara’s dream had collapsed against the reality of the Congolese forces‘ complete incompetence and lack of realism.

In order to achieve greatness, you have to fail …

Exposition in Mexico City

„El Che. Una Odisea Africana.“

Till January 21, 2018 at Antiguo Colegio San Ildefonso, Mexico City.

www.sanildefonso.org.mx

Museum Diego Rivera, Guanajuato

Diego Rivera’s birthplace in Guanajuato, Mexico is a great museum honoring the famous artist (the Marxist Rivera was persona non grata here for years). Rivera and his twin brother were born in the house in 1886 (Carlos died at the age of two) and lived here until the family moved to Mexico City 6 years later. The museum’s ground floor is a recreation of the Rivera family home, furnished with 19th-century antiques.

The labyrinth of upper floors exhibit a permanent collection of his original works and preliminary sketches. You also see references to his life with Frida Kahlo.

Museo Casa Diego Rivera
Positos 47, Centro 
36000 Guanajuato, Mexiko

About Frida

Recently I looked my photographs of Frida Kahlo’s paintings again. I took them during an exhibition a couple of years ago. I love her self-portraits and the way she used to see herself as two different people – the internal and the external Frida. And I admire how honest she was about both personalities. Her womanhood was timeless. She is one of my favourite artists.

Ciudad Juarez Street Art

Antonio Hernández, Jigsaw artist, Ciudad Juarez

I meet Antonio Hernández at the Avenida Juarez in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The US border is just some blocks away. On a shady corner he installed his table. This is his office. He does not need much. Just a jigsaw, some rings and keys.
Within 10 minutes he writes names in their surfaces. Not with a pen but with a jigsaw. I never saw somebody doing that. “My father did this craft since 1933. He began at the same place in Ciudad Juarez.” Antonio recalls that he was 14 when his father showed him how to deal with that kind of material. For 2 year he was abroad: In Europe, where he showed his art in different museums in Dublin and Madrid.

I got a ring and a key. Special memories of Ciudad Juarez.